Chasing Rubies
by Signora Ted
Summary: Kelriada had a family with the Companions, but upon receiving a letter from her mother, searches for the Thieves Guild. Will she find family there as well? Or will love, betrayal and dragons stop the young Nord from finding happiness in Skyrim? Dragonborn/Brynjolf/Vilkas
1. The Companions Farewell

"Kelriada Fire-Bird, surely you have more of a brain than my dear brother. What kind of idiot would carry out such an absurd notion? Oh wait, never mind. I forgot there is always you."

The flaming red haired woman rolled her eyes from her slouched position on her chair. What other way had she expected Vilkas to react? He was never one for trying something new anyway.

"Gods, Vilkas. It's not like I'm proposing that we bring home a pet mammoth. I just wish to expand my contacts, broaden my horizon a little bit,"

His dark eyebrows rose in his forehead as he let out an amused chuckle, earning a glare for the young woman seated before him.

"Pray enlighten me as to how searching out for the Thieves Guild will help you 'broaden your horizon'? Honestly, you could not be more foolish."

Having enough of the smaller of the Companion twins, Kelriada pushed herself out of her chair and shoved her way past Vilkas to retire to her room.

"Kel!" she heard behind her, however she refused to reply instead, slamming her door shut behind her.

She had good reasons to search for the guild, most of which hadn't been mentioned during herself and Vilkas's battle of the rants.  
Plopping herself onto her bed, she pulled her chest towards the best, resulting in a loud grinding sound as the metal and wood of the chest scraped against the wooden floor.

With a sigh, she flung the top back and pulled out a battered, stained envelope. The scarlet red seal had already been broken by her earlier that week and the contents had been read more than necessary. Reading it seemed to comfort her slightly, so she looked over it again.

_Dearest daughter,  
I've instructed an old friend to hold onto this until you arrive in  
Skyrim sometime during your lifetime. Hopefully it will be given  
to you with haste.  
I know you are aware that your father and I originally hail from  
Skyrim, but there is much more for you to know. I was a thief,  
Kel. Almost a master thief and I gave it up when I had you.  
But I still have the connections there. Find the guild, daughter.  
They will give you a home and a family in your times of need.  
Just say my name and I'm certain Gallus, Mercer and Karliah  
will take you under their wings._

And that was it. That was the whole letter. Kel checked the seal instantly after she had read it, to see if anyone had opened it before and taken the rest of the letter but there was nothing. There wasn't even a sign off from her mother and it made her heart ache. Surely there was more of the letter somewhere? Perhaps that was all her mother had been able to write. According to the date, it had been written the night before she died. No, murdered. By the Dark Brotherhood in Cyrodiil, no less. Kel was yet to discover why her mother had been murdered, however this new discovery of her thievery past may have had something to do with it.  
She would think about that another day though. Today, she made it her mission to leave Whiterun without the twins following her and dragging her back by her hair. It would prove a difficult task.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

With her shoulders back and her pale chin held up high, Kel made her way outside to the training yard where Farkas was brutally hacking at a straw target man.

"By the nine, Farkas! I made him, no need to ruin him for the rest of us,"

Farkas did not lower his sword and instead, continued chopping at the target.

"You're leaving," he grumbled, his back still to Kel. "I don't want you to leave."

Kel felt a smile forming on her lips as she slipped her arms around his waist from behind, narrowly missing his elbows as he swung his sword.  
Of course Farkas wouldn't care where she was going, only that she was going in the first place.  
He stopped swinging his sword when he felt Kel's arms around him in an affectionate hug and her head resting on the small of his back. He groaned as he dropped his sword and turned around to return the hug, almost lifting Kel of the ground.

"Don't go, Twink,"

Kel almost felt like hitting him. _Now_, he brought out the nickname and the big puppy dog eyes. She would not be defeated! She had more will power than that!

"I can't, Farkas. I have to go. You're speaking as if I'm moving back to Cyrodiil, you foolish man. I'm only going to Riften."

The element of surprise was not what Kel expected on his face. Then it dawned on her. She would kill Vilkas.

"He told you I was moving back to Cyrodiil, didn't he?"

With a small embarrassed nod, a smile stretched across Farkas's face. He pulled Kel into a tighter, lung crushing hug before releasing her and ruffling her unruly red hair.

"As long as you come back you us, I don't care where you go, Twink,"

Happy with how that went, she kissed him on the cheek and gave his large hand a squeeze. When she made her way back inside, Vilkas was beside the fire in a chair, sulking as he chugged down a tankard of mead. Kodlak and Aela were also present, the latter giving Kel a not so friendly stare.

"I'm going to head off soon," Kel began awkwardly, knowing well that Aela and Vilkas were not happy with her choice. Kodlak however, said that he supported what she wanted to do and had even supplied her with a small Orcish knife as a going away present.

"Fine by me but I'm not helping you out of jail when you get caught."

"Vilkas, it almost sounds like you're going to miss me. Be careful, soon you might start caring."

Kel got a pissed off grunt as a reply and decided to leave killing him for messing with his brother for a different day.  
Aela got out of her seat and despite looking quite unhappy with the situation, took Kel by the shoulders and hugged her.

"Do not let those thieves change you for the worse, shield-sister. I want you back here in a month's time for an update."

With a smile, Aela sat back down and rolled her eyes at the still sulking Vilkas. Kel gave Kodlak a nod, having already said her goodbyes to the old man in private and then picked up her pack from beside the door.

"Goodbye all, then. I'll be off,"

With a quick tilt of the head, Kel opened the front door of Jorrvaskr and set off down the road.


	2. Riften

The journey to Riften wasn't as tiresome as Kel had expected. Once she had left Whiterun, she paid for a carriage to the city as she had yet to acquire enough money for a horse. It wasn't that she was poor, just more of the fact that she had more important things to spend the little money she _did have _on things like food and lodging.

When she arrived, she was greeted by a city guard, who so willingly unlocked the gate for her once he caught a glance of her Elven bow that was strapped to her back.

"Anywhere to stay the night?" she had inquired once the gate was open.

"The Bee and the Barb, miss. You'll be looked after well there,"

Fifteen minutes later, she was seated on her bed in the room she had rented. It was small, yes, but all that mattered to her was a bed and the privacy of a wall and door. After she stripped off her bonded iron armour, knife, bow, arrows and her Skyforge steel sword and had dumped them on the wooden table and chair opposite her bed, she laid back and sighed before blowing out the candle. Tomorrow, she would find the guild, and tomorrow she'd have a new day.

* * *

"Your pockets look a little light, lass."

Before she even turned around, the young Nord rolled her eyes, her right hand going straight to the Orcish knife that was strapped around her thigh. She had encountered many troublesome drunks in her travels, looking for a good roll in the hay and she didn't want to start her stay in Riften with rumours flying about. She wouldn't sink so low as to whore herself out for money.

"My pockets?" she replied confidently, turning around to see who had spoken to her.

He was quite a large man with broad shoulders; to which his wavy red hair reached to; and his hazel eyes looked at Kel with a playful gleam. He wore the normal merchant styled robes, leather boots and a smile that would charm the smuggest Thalmor. He didn't seem very threatening to her but as Aela had always said, 'You never know with men.'

"Yes, your pockets. Lacking a bit of coin, don't you think?"

Kel eyed him cautiously as her hand slowly released the hilt of her knife and folded her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're getting at, friend, but I don't think I can help you."

He smirked at her, despite her obvious unimpressed expression.

"That's where you're wrong, lass. I think you can help me. You seem to have the right… what's the word? Ah yes, physique for a favour I need"

Kel let out a frustrated sigh and let her hands fall to her hips, glaring at the man in front of her.

"I will not lie with you for money, Nord."

And with that, she turned on her heel, her face red with embarrassment and fury. At least this time the man was remotely attractive and not just some disgusting inn drunk. This one had charm and a smile to go with it. _Bet he get's ladies fast with that smirk on his face_, Kel thought as she began walking away from him. Unfortunately for her, he seemed to be a persistent annoyance and jogged to catch up with her, pulling her back to face him by her shoulder.

"You're a lovely looking lass, I'll give you that. But that's not what I was talking about."

Kel almost let out a laugh when she realised how much of a fool she must have looked. She was certain Grelka, the weapon and armour merchant in another of the stalls had heard the end of the two's conversation and was now sending Kel merciless glares that told her, 'either buy something or _move _ away from my stall!'

"Ah… Um,"

However the red haired male saved Kel further embarrassment by continuing his part in their conversation.

"The name's Brynjolf and the job I'm wanting you to do involves some law breaking. You up for it?"

_Law breaking, eh? Either the Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild. I'm no scholar but he doesn't look like a murderer to me. _The feeling of excitement coursed through Kel as the prospect of already having found the Thieves Guild hit her. _It was much easier to find them than I thought it would be._

"Sorry about that. My name's Kelriada. What kind of job were you thinking of?"

Brynjolf flashed her a smile before grasping her by the elbow and dragged her into a secluded corner, the market still in sight. There, he explained his plan in full detail. Once he was satisfied that she knew what she was doing, he left her with a wink and set off to his own stall, where he began to gather a crowd with his scam.

Seeing her opening, Kel made a quiet and stealthy break for Madesi's stall where her target was hidden and slipped a pick lock into the lock, turning it until she heard a quiet click. Refraining from fist pumping the air with success, she flipped the box open and snatched the gold ring. The next bit would be harder; however she smiled when she noticed Brand-Shei sitting on top of some stacked crates. She slowly crept behind the crates until she was sure his attention was on Brynjolf and then, when she was certain she wouldn't get caught, slipped the ring into Brand-Shei's trouser pocket.

Retreating to Brynjolf was the easiest part of the task as she melted into the crowd as he finished his distraction and then ended up standing in front of his stall once more, alone.

"Well, lass?"

"It's done."

Brynjolf chuckled and clapped her on her left shoulder and flicked her a Septim.

"Well done, Kelriada. I don't suppose you'd be looking for more work like that would you? We could use a hand like yours."

Kel didn't even question who 'we' was, and merely nodded her head, letting a smile sneak on to her lips. _This is it_, she thought as Brynjolf continued on about the Guild's current status and where she would have to go. _She found them. And soon she'd also find her answers._

_**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows! ^_^ Much appreciated folks! Also, chapters will get longer. I just wanted to get something up tonight, otherwise nothing would be put up for ages so…**_


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